Mark Consuelos, if he could, he would change “one thing” in his 1996 proposal to his now-wife Kelly Ripa.
Ripa’s now-husband regrets not getting the blessing of his wife’s father before popping the question.
The confession came up during a conversation in which the Live with Kelly and Mark co-hosts analysed a survey that determined different ways in which “Americans” would propose and recalled when Consuelos got down on knee in 1996 after to ask Ripa to marry him.
“I would change one thing,” the actor admitted Tuesday. “One thing I would change about the whole thing is, I wish I would’ve called your dad.”
The 54-year-old actress sighed and added that her father, Joe Ripa, “still talks about it to this day.”
“Really?” the 53-year-old Consuelos asked, to which Kelly replied, “Yeah.”
The Riverdale alum reminded the viewers that he popped the question to his former All My Children co-star just ahead of them eloping to Las Vegas.
“Because we eloped, that would’ve thrown the whole elopement off, because I’m sure he would’ve talked us out of it,” Consuelos explained why he didn’t think asking Joe was a good idea, and Kelly agreed.
She still thinks that family members from both of the partners’ sides “would’ve talked [them] out of it,” except her mother-in-law, Camilla Consuelos, who was “the only one” who was “on board” with the elopement.
But the regret didn’t seem to go away, as Mark repeated, “I still should’ve called your dad.”
Kelly assured her husband that her dad is “over it,” and told him to move on too.
Mark further fondly shared the story of how he proposed to his fellow soap star in his downtown New York City apartment.
Reflecting on the moment, he humorously compared it to the proposal scene in the 1979 film Rocky II, where Rocky, played by Sylvester Stallone, asks Adrian, portrayed by Talia Shire, to marry him.
Mimicking the line, he said, “I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind marrying me so much?”
“It was great, loved it,” Kelly gushed. “I stand by our whole thing. It stuck!”, and when he asked what she would “grade” the proposal, Kelly eagerly gave it an “A++.”
